TheSamba.com :: View topic - Distributor chirping after points adjustment?

Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:36 am

Last night, I felt like getting an early start on my winter tuneup, and I went out and adjusted my points. I took off the cap, cleaned the crud off the contact points for the spark plug wires, checked the carbon brush, checked the rotor and adjusted the points. After I set the gap to .016, I put everything back together and started the car, and all seemed well. After warming it up, I got in and backed out and heard an intermittent chirping coming from the engine compartment. I dismissed it as something other than the car drove off to get more gas, but I noticed the chirping never stopped, so i suspect that something is wrong with the distributor. Does anyone know anything that would cause a noise like that in the distributor?

Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:50 am

I'm having a hard time imagining a distributor making much noise, but I've been Wrong before! The drive gears could make noise I suppose. Use a piece of hose or metal pipe for a stethoscope & track down the noise to it's true source. :twisted:

Thu Nov 13, 2014 9:53 am

Hard to say what it is.

BTW... .016" is a starting point. You need to use a dwell meter to get the points set correctly.

Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:02 am

Cold belt making the noise?
Cap not quite aligned on body?
Air cleaner not tight to the carb throat?
Did you put a drop of oil on the felt pad under the rotor, and a dab of Bosch grease on the cam rubbing block?

Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:45 am

I forgot to mention that I also took the fan shrouding cover off and checked the fan belt and pried the engine around a bit with a screwdriver in the timing hole, because I hadn't done it before and was wondering how much effort it took so I knew for when I do my valve adjustment, but I can't imagine those doing any damage. Could it be residue on the points? I just realized I didn't wipe the oil off the feeler gauge before I gapped the points :oops: otherwise, there are a few marks in the contacts in the distributor cap from the knife I used to scrape the crud off, but that shouldn't cause any sounds.

Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:09 am

Woops, Type 3 forum, my first response here was for a bug...

Like was suggested, use the "hose in the ear" (redneck stethoscope) to isolate the location of the noise. It could be fan or generator-related , or even loose shrouding at this point.

You should not pry with a screwdriver in the timing hole... that bends up the shroud. Use a crescent wrench on the gen nut.

Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:29 am

Apply some Bosch distributor grease to the rubbing block. It chirps because it's dry.

Max

Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:55 pm

KTPhil wrote: Cold belt making the noise?
Cap not quite aligned on body?
Air cleaner not tight to the carb throat?
Did you put a drop of oil on the felt pad under the rotor, and a dab of Bosch grease on the cam rubbing block?

I've seen the chirping distributor thing before- lubing it up fixed it every time.